


Two flames, one fire

by Troy x Madison Forever (Elrin)



Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2018-12-23 20:13:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11997132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elrin/pseuds/Troy%20x%20Madison%20Forever
Summary: Troy decides it’s time to take his relationship with Madison to a new level, and she must face her feelings she had been denying.





	1. Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> Bring back Troy petition: https://www.change.org/p/amc-entertainment-bring-back-troy-otto

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update: the first two chapters have been corrected (grammar, etc.)

Madison was all alone in their house one afternoon, Nick has accompanied the militia to get fuel, and Alicia has been helping Jake on the fields.  She was sitting on her bed, thinking about taking a nap, when someone knocked on the door.

“Come in,” she said.

A young man appeared in the doorway.

“Troy?” she asked, surprised. She thought he was with Nick and the others.

“Sorry to disturb you, but can I speak with you for a minute?”

“Yes.”

Madison was just about to stand up, she had never been completely comfortable in his presence despite the fact that they had made amends a long time ago.  Troy was quicker though, he sat next to her on the bed, which surprised her even more.

“I was wondering if you wanted to come with us in a few days to get supplies,” he asked.

“Probably.”

“You're a great help, Madison, and you fight well. I’m glad you're here with us.”

 “And I’m grateful that your family allowed us to live on the ranch,” she answered.

He smiled at her then looked away for a few seconds. There was something strange about the way he acted, as if he was contemplating something. When he looked back at her, she noticed that his eyes wandered down, to her lips. She immediately knew the situation had become dangerous, that he wanted to bring their unique relationship to a new level, and that made her uncomfortable and alert.

She has been controlling him by playing the mother figure. He has been controlling her by playing the broken, hurt child. Most of the time she has been the one in control, carefully planning how to manipulate him. But it was clear from the very beginning that besides his mother issues, he was also attracted to her.

He suddenly leaned in and kissed her lips tenderly.

It took her by surprise. She thought she has been in control, but Troy managed to catch her off guard with this bold move.

“Troy, we shouldn’t...the age difference between us is—“

“I don’t care,” he interrupted her with a passionate voice and started kissing her neck, sending waves of pleasure through her body. She closed her eyes at the feeling and fought back a moan.

“Troy, stop,” she murmured and made a weak attempt to push him away, putting her hands on his chest.

Her conscience told her not to let him continue but her feelings said otherwise. She too, was attracted to him, although she has been trying her best to dismiss those kind of thoughts about him, partly because of his unpredictable nature, and partly because of the age gap between them.  He was dangerous, and manipulating him was already like playing with fire. Not to mention it would have been more than awkward if Nick or Alicia walked in on them. Still, she couldn’t deny herself this pleasure, not when it was so hard to come by in this new world. It was so wrong but it felt so right.

“I want you so much, I can’t take it anymore,” he whispered into her ear, making her shiver, before returning to her neck.

He was relieved that she didn’t get angry at him because of his advances, and despite what she said, her half-hearted resistance seemed to be more of an inner struggle. He didn’t want to be too pushy, he respected her too much to act like that, but seeing that she was enjoying what he was doing, it fueled his desire even more. She just needed some convincing. It was very rare that Madison was completely alone and he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. He desperately wanted to prove his love for her.

He grabbed her wrists and gently pushed her down on the bed, and crawled on top of her, still kissing her neck. She could feel him, hard, against her thigh. She felt her resolve weaken and she decided to let him continue, uninterrupted. Seeing that she had surrendered to him he released her hands, pulling his T-shirt off and tossing it aside.

He placed a kiss on her lips, then quickly started to unbutton her shirt, quickly pulling it off, followed by her bra. He lowered his head and started licking her nipples, which made her gasp for breath.

Hearing her enjoying it, he smirked and continued to work on her. He slid his other hand under her jeans and underwear, finding her clit and massaging it with his middle finger. A loud moan escaped her lips, her voice was so arousing that he almost came. His lips returned to her mouth, deepening the kiss while he pushed a finger inside her. Madison grabbed his shoulders and returned the kiss, writhing under his mouth and touch, her skin ablaze.

After a few minutes, Troy pulled off the rest of her clothes, and she quickly divested him of his own, and knelt between her legs. This was when she realized they didn’t have protection. She was just about to yell at him when she saw a condom in his hands. So, he was preparing for this, it wasn’t just the heat of the moment.  She opened her legs, letting him enter.

Being with her was even greater than he expected. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought it would be that easy to seduce her. He had been waiting for so long but never imagined it would come true. She hugged him tightly, moaning loudly under him. “I love you,” he whispered over and over again. Before long, they climaxed, their long denied desires finally set free.

He got off her and lay down beside her, both of them trying to catch their breath.

“I knew you'd like it,” he said, smirking.

“We must keep this a secret, you know that, right?”

“Yes.”

Madison sat up and quickly started to get dressed, fearing her children would arrive too soon and see them.

“You should go now, before the others come back.”

She was clearly embarrassed, barely looking him in the eye. He smiled, knowing this time it was him who won the game. He saw through her defense as much as she saw through his, he just didn’t make it clear to her until now. He placed a kiss on her cheek before leaving.

She lay back on the bed, covering her eyes with her forearm. She knew what they did was a mistake. Things escalated so fast, and their game went too far. How could this have happened? She could have and _should have_ stopped him. It felt great, but she was worried about the consequences. She couldn’t believe that just happened.

 

*

 

There had always been some really intense gazes between them before the incident. Since then, they had became even more apparent. Troy had been staring at her so intensely that he was impossible to ignore. She kept her distance however, not even sure if she needed some time to think things through, or if she was still embarrassed by what happened between them. There was a third option as well, to pretend that it never happened, to carry on like before, if it was even possible, knowing how devoted Troy was. But this devotion was something that she could utilize – if she could control it.

A few days passed, and Madison went to the Otto house early in the evening to speak with Jeremiah about some work on the ranch. She entered the living room and immediately saw that the conversation wouldn’t be happening any time soon. Jeremiah was drunk again, his head on the desk, a half empty bottle of alcohol next to him.

“Great,” she murmured to herself.

She was about to leave when someone came down the stairs - it was Troy. He was surprised to see her but his face brightened immediately.

“Madison. I didn’t expect you to be here.”

“I came to speak to your father. Apparently, I won’t.”

Troy looked at his father, shrugging. He had already gotten used to this sight throughout his life. He walked up to her, watching her with the usual dreamy expression on his face.

“You've been avoiding me, Madison.”

“Troy, I don’t think it would be a good idea to continue what we have started.”

“You're in denial, Madison. There’s no harm in it.”

She let out a sigh. Troy continued, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

“I know the others left not long ago, which means....”

She slowly shook her head and closed her eyes for a moment.

“I really should go,” she said, heading for the door.

“Don’t go, please,” he grabbed her arm, his grip firm but gentle. She looked at him and couldn’t resist that innocent look he gave her. Those eyes again! He certainly knew how to charm her, and she was aware he did it purposefully on many occasions. She was mesmerized by them and couldn’t help it. She was also quick to notice how pleasant his scent was. It made her feel dizzy and her resolve was crumbling. She wanted to go but her legs wouldn’t move.

Troy took the opportunity and put his hand on her cheek, slowly leaning close to her and kissing her. Seeing she didn’t pull back, he continued to plead with her.

“Come to my room…please,” he whispered.

His voice was full of lust, which aroused her more than she was willing to admit.  She bit her lip, not responding yet, her inner conflict visible.

“I thought you had your own house?” she asked, trying to gain a little time.

“Of course. But I have my old room too, we used it as a spare room when our distant relatives visited us.”

They were stared at each other for a moment. She wanted to be with him again, but her conscience told her otherwise. At the same time she knew she had already crossed the line, there was no turning back now. On the top of that, Troy was staring at her in such a loving and seductive way that made it impossible for her to say no. She returned the kiss and they embraced each other.

They moved upstairs. She hadn't even noticed when all her clothes disappeared, he was so quick to undress her and himself. He caressed her thighs and breasts as he kissed her. After a few minutes, he suddenly grabbed her hips, pulling her to the edge of the bed and started to work on her with his mouth. She jumped a bit when she felt his tongue between her legs.

“Trying to escape?” he asked amused, holding her down. She was getting louder and louder, and she quickly pressed her forearm to her mouth, trying hard to stifle her groans in fear that so much noise would draw attention to them.

After she climaxed he began to climb on top of her but to his surprise, she got up and pushed him against the wall, into a sitting position.  The sun had set and in the darkness of his bedroom he couldn’t see what she was doing, he was unsure if she had changed her mind or she just wanted to take the lead.

“Don’t stop,” he whispered.

“I don’t intend to,” she murmured back climbing into his lap. He shuddered and let out a moan of his own. She put her hands on his shoulders and began to ride him. He pulled her closer so he could kiss her, and placed his hands on her hip.

Their second time was even better than the first, and she realized she wanted and enjoyed their relationship more than she had originally thought.

“Madison, I won’t be able to wait for days until we can be together again. Not after this.” he panted, breathless after their time together.

“You'll have to.”

“Will you stay here for a while, please?”

His scent was so pleasant and calming, she wanted nothing but to embrace him and rest with him, but she couldn’t.

“I'd love to, but it’s too risky. I really must go now.”

This time it was her who gave him a goodbye kiss.


	2. Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You remember what you said to me? That no one really understands you but me. It’s the other way around too. You’re the only one who understands me, Troy.”

Another day passed when she walked up to his house and knocked.The sun has just started to rise, and she knew Troy has just finished his patrol.

His face was sleepy when he opened the door but he immediately cheered up when he saw who had paid him a visit. He looked at her as if he had found a long lost treasure.

“I couldn’t sleep so I thought I'd visit you,” she smiled.

“Come in,” he took her hand and lead her inside. “I missed you.”

There wasn’t much time before the people on the ranch started their morning routines, and they knew they couldn’t be together for too long. They were sitting on the couch next to each other resting, simply being happy to be close to each other.

“Have you ever thought about what will happen in 10-15 years?” she said worried, referring to the age gap between them.

“We won’t live that long.” he answered plainly.

“Aren’t you the pessimistic type?”

He smirked, shrugging.

“Honestly, Madison, you have to admit it's very unlikely we'll survive that long. But until then, you can bet I will do my best to watch over you and the ranch.”

Just as she was about to answer, someone knocked on the door and opened it. It was Jake, clearly not expecting that Troy had company.

“Troy, I need your help. We-- “ he began, but stopped when he saw them sitting there, Troy with his arm around Madison’s shoulder, and her resting her head on his chest. At least they had clothes on and weren’t doing anything. She quickly moved further from Troy, and an awkward silence filled the room.

“Oh…Hello, Madison…I’m sorry…Um, Troy, I just need you to come to the fence,” he continued, embarrassed.

“Sure I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Troy said casually, as if nothing interesting has been happening.

“Alright,” Jake said and retreated.

Madison sighed.

“Well, that was embarrassing…”

“Relax, it’s just Jake,” he laughed. “He was more embarrassed than we were. Did you see how red his face was?”

“It's not funny, Troy. What’s between us will be discovered, sooner or later.”

“Jake won’t tell anyone.”

“I’m not talking about him. This is a big ranch, but not that big.”

“It wouldn’t be the end of the world. That already happened,” he pointed out the window, smiling.

“Maybe you're right. But I still want to keep this private.”

“Whatever you want, Madison,” he said and kissed her on the cheek. “See you soon.”

Jake was standing by the fence, arms folded, a worried expression creasing his brow.

Troy walked up to him with his hands in his pockets, waiting for Jake to tell what he wanted. Seeing his brother didn’t want to say anything about Madison, Jake started.

“Look, I understand it’s an apocalypse and there aren't many choices in women, but...her? She’s like 18 years older than you.”

“Yeah, I know that and don’t care. If you’re finished you can tell me what's going on.”

Jake just shook his head annoyed and pointed at the fence in front of him.

“I think it’s time we started to strengthen these fences. I was out by the car two hours ago and saw a larger herd heading this way. I have no idea where they're coming from, but we need to prepare.”

“How many?”

“I counted 24…could be more by now.”

“Alright, I’m going to alert the others,” Troy replied and made to leave but suddenly stopped. “Oh, and one more thing: don’t tell dad about her.”

“I don’t want to.”

“You think he would disapprove if he knew?”

“I don’t know…he probably wouldn’t care much. Considering he didn’t scold you for what you did back at the border, I doubt he would. He doesn’t care much about anything anymore, to tell the truth.”

“Yeah, you might be right.”

*

 

It wasn’t for long before what Madison had really feared finally happened. It was Nick who was quick to notice after a few weeks that something had changed. He didn’t hesitate to share his suspicions, moreover, he chose to do so when Alicia was present as well.

“I noticed you visited the Otto house several times… late at night, alone.”

She let out a long sigh. They were bound to find out eventually. She knew they couldn’t avoid this forever.

She didn’t answer, trying to gather her thoughts. Maybe she could come up with a believable explanation…

“Do you really think it's worth it to hook up with Jeremiah?” Nick continued.

Ah, of course. They thought it was the old Otto. It would be more logical and less crazy. She folded her arms and leaned against the table behind her.

“There’s nothing between us.”

“Come on, mom. It’s obvious,” Nick said, rolling his eyes.

“It’s NOT Jeremiah.”

“Then who?” Nick asked sarcastically.

She decided it would be the best to tell them the truth, no matter how awkward it was. It would cause less trouble if they didn't involve Jeremiah in this. She lowered her head, looking at the floor for a few seconds, which felt like an eternity, before looking up.

“It’s…Troy.”

Both of her children opened their mouths in disbelief. They'd expected anything but this.

“What?! But…this is…It’s just crazy!” Alicia half yelled.

“I can’t believe this. He could be your son, and you can't even trust him!” Nick added, clearly upset at the revelation.

“I don’t expect you to understand.” Madison replied, shaking her head. “ _In fact, I don’t understand it either,”_ she added silently.

“How could we understand, mom? What would _Travis_ say if he knew about this? He wanted to kill Travis! Troy was the reason he died. He’s a psycho!” Alicia cried angrily, raising her voice more and more.

Sure, Travis. As if she could forget him. Her conscience already ate away at her, no one needed to remind her of that, her guilt was never far from her mind.

“Enough!” she spoke firmly.

“We understand you want to protect us and win the Ottos as allies, but this is too much,” Nick tried to reason with her mother, but she wasn't having any of it.

“It’s not just a physical relationship,” Madison explained, her voice growing soft.

Another short silence fell upon the room.

“That’s even worse. You know what he's capable of,” Nick said darkly.

“You…fell for him? For real?” Alicia asked, shocked.

Madison decided she had heard enough and headed for the door.

“Mom, where are you going now?” Nick asked.

“To the psycho,” she snapped sarcastically and shut the door behind her.

 

*

She was looking out the window of Troy’s house with a gloomy expression on her face, her thoughts racing.

Troy was sitting on the couch, reading a map of the nearby town, when he noticed that something was bothering Madison.

“What's the matter, Madison?” he asked.

She turned to face him.

“Alicia and Nick…they know about us. We had a heated argument.”

This surprised him and he thought a bit before answering.

“Don’t worry about them. They'll get used to it,” he shrugged.

“I hope they will. I tried to speak with them but they would never understand.”

“No one would understand us, Madison. We are the odd ones out.”

She knew he was right. She lied and murdered for the sake of the safety of her children but they didn’t appreciate it, Troy was the only one who really acknowledged and supported her efforts, all without even knowing the full story of her life.

“We don’t have to explain or justify our actions, don’t have to care what others think about us,” Troy continued. “The only thing that matters is that we're here for each other.”

“You're right. You remember what you said to me? That no one really understands you but me. It’s the other way around too. You’re the only one who understands me, Troy.”

Hearing this, his face lit up and he smiled at her.

It was crazy, but as a romantic partner, he felt better than poor Travis, in many ways. Maybe she had really lost her mind. At the same time, she liked to think she had also been a good influence on him, he had certainly become less wild lately, his dark side making less frequent appearances.

Her eyes wandered to the desk beside her, and she saw a CD of a heavy metal band. When he noticed what she was looking at, he laughed.

“That’s the one you hate. Maybe we should find a shop where we can find some music you like.”

“That’s not a bad idea, Troy,” she said smiling.

“We've been thinking about visiting the nearby town, there are probably still many supplies there. I mean, we can scavenge things we can’t make ourselves. Like medicine.”

“It'll be dangerous. I've had my share of cities and towns, but you're right. We can't avoid going to other places much longer.”

“We're far away from the cities, literally in the middle of nowhere, which is good from the aspect of safety, but if something sudden happens…We can’t risk being unprepared.”

“Then let’s go. I'll join you.”

He gave her the map he had been reading.

“It’s a tourist map, so it’s easier to get a picture of what we need. It’s a good thing we had this lying around,” he said. “I've been planning how to carry the raid out for some time, now I only need to discuss it with the militia.”

*

It wasn’t even noon when the drama from the previous day began again, following Madison’s confession.

“Nick came to me and confronted me about us. It was amusing.” Troy said to Madison, with a laugh. 

“I really hope nothing bad happened.”

“No. Nothing serious. But Nick hates me. Again.”

“Yeah, I know.”

 “It doesn’t matter,” he shrugged. “I've never been popular with people. This isn't new to me.”

Madison sighed.

_“Will these conflicts ever end?”_ she thought wearily. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 will be added soon.


	3. Survival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The militia visits the nearby town to gather supplies but has to deal with unexpected difficulties.

They headed for the town the next day with some of the militia. Nick also joined them, sitting in the backseat of Troy’s truck. Madison was beside Troy in the front, holding the machete he’d given her, his favorite choice of weapon.

When they came close to their destination, they stopped their cars near the entrance. Troy took the map out to check it, and to discuss their strategy again.

“Alright, so there’s a pharmacy nearby...only a few streets away,” he said to his men.

“Nick, since you’re such an eagle eye, you’ll be our watchman. There are apartments with fire escapes not far away from here. You should get to the rooftop and warn us if there’s any trouble.”

“Sure, I’m in,” Nick replied.

“Good. After we finish we’ll also check the two nearby shops and the electronics store.”

They parked their vehicles next to the abandoned cars right at the front of the city. Seeing the herds of undead wandering in the town, Madison became worried.

“It looks pretty bad,” she said anxiously.

“It is,” Troy said. “It’s the reason we’ve been avoiding this place.”

She saw Nick running up the first fire escape of the nearest house. A moment later he contacted Troy via the walkie-talkie.

“I’m here, ok. The main street is swarming with them and some of the side ones too. But the road at the pharmacy seems alright at the moment,” Nick explained, his voice crackling with static.

“Right, thanks Nick,” Troy answered.

They arrived at the pharmacy without much trouble, only killing a handful of the undead, since most of them were roaming the inner areas of the town.

“Antibiotics and painkillers are a must. And remember: no guns, only if there’s no other way. The whole town will be on us if we’re not quiet,” Troy cautioned the group.

Half of the group entered the building and half of them stayed behind, including Madison, to secure the entrance and keep an eye out for danger. A few walkers approached them outside, but Troy and the rest of the men finished at the pharmacy relatively quick, and they got rid of them.

The group separated into three units in order to avoid being cornered and to monitor their surroundings. Madison walked in the front with Jimmie, and they passed by a shop where a lot of walkers were trapped, growling and scratching on the shop window. Suddenly, they heard a huge crash, the glass store front shattered. The window couldn’t hold any longer and a large number of undead roamed out, attacking Madison and the militiaman. They were surrounded in no time and they desperately tried to cut their way out of the herd.

“Madison!”  Troy shouted, immediately running towards her.

By the time he reached them, they had killed most of the walkers. Troy stood next to her, quickly finishing the remaining stragglers around her. Seeing the threat was over, she sat down on the ground a bit to catch her breath.

“Are you ok?” he asked worried, crouching in front of her and holding her arms.

“Yes…You?”

“I’m alright. Please be more careful. I couldn’t bear losing you,” he whispered to her.

“So much for not making any noise, I guess.”

“It wasn’t your fault. I saw what happened.”

They realized their faces were too close to each other and Troy was touching her in such a loving way, the nature of their relationship would be easy to detect if anyone studied them for more than a minute. They noticed some of the men were looking at them suspiciously.

Troy quickly got up, helping Madison to her feet. He looked at his teammate, who was standing not far away.

“Everything ok Jimmie?”

The man just waved his hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Just as they expected, the consequence of the loud noise didn’t go unnoticed. Walkers started to appear from the side streets, heading hungrily towards them.

“Retreat!” Troy shouted. Everyone ran into the nearest side street which they knew was clear and didn’t have a dead end, thanks to their lookout.

He removed his walkie-talkie from the pocket of his jacket.

“Nick, where to now?”

“Jefferson street to the left is more or less safe but you should hurry. Those of you who want to go to the electronics store need to take a little detour to the right, along the third street,” Nick informed them.

“Alright,” answered Troy then turned to the militiamen. “Now that they’re drawn to us, we should split up, we don’t have time to check everything together. Search for canned food, batteries…anything we might need, and take as much as you can. We’ll meet at the cars in an hour. If something happens and you can’t get to the cars, go to that hill to the west and wait there.”

After the others turned around and headed off, he quickly touched Madison’s arm. “You’re coming with me, of course. I don’t want you to scare me like that again,” he whispered to her, worry in his eyes. 

They left for the bigger store nearby. Before they could enter however, two men exited the front doors. Troy hastily pulled Madison behind a car. These people were definitely from the reservation. As they watched, the men loaded a car with boxes full of supplies.

“Damn it...the Indians are fucking things up again. We can’t let them take all that shit,” Troy whispered to Madison.

“They won’t negotiate and if we kill them, the nation will know it was us,” Madison reasoned.

“Not if we take their bodies elsewhere,” Troy replied, a devilish smile appearing on his face.

She slowly nodded at the idea. He and Madison were such a good team.

“I knew you would approve,” he said, grinning.

They snuck closer to the men, hiding behind the parked cars. Without warning, they jumped out, attacking them with their machetes. It was evident their enemies didn’t anticipate such an ambush and were easily defeated.

“We’ll dispose of them later. There might be more of them inside, I doubt only the two of them came here sightseeing,” Troy whispered.

Judging by the empty shelves and the lack of walkers roaming the aisles, the store has been raided a few times at least.  However, there were still a large amount of supplies that hadn’t been taken yet.  They split up in order to finish quickly, but stayed close enough to aid each other if one of them got into any trouble. Unfortunately, they couldn’t take much with them, but even that amount meant a big difference.

When Madison passed by the sports department, she saw a black baseball bat loosely fastened to the wall. _Why hadn’t anyone taken it yet?_ she thought. She quickly took it off and swung it a few times.

She heard rummaging nearby; it was definitely not the kind of noise a walker would make. She cautiously followed the sound, and the sight of a few killed walkers on the floor made it clear it was a human nearby, but she knew it couldn’t be Troy. He was another Native American, searching among the canned food, not noticing her yet.

Time to see what her bat could do, she thought. It was the survival of the fittest now and she definitely belonged in that category. Having experienced how dangerous and cruel these people were, she felt no remorse. She was contemplating how to approach him when she noticed Troy among the back shelves. He nodded at her, he had also noticed the Native. He crept forward like a predatory beast, the sight reminding her that he could never be completely tamed.

He wasn’t quiet enough though, because the man heard his steps. He turned and attacked Troy with a hatchet. Madison didn’t know how much experience he had fighting with living opponents without guns, but he proved to be more than capable. He evaded the attacks of his enemy, eventually able to slice him across the chest and then moved in for the kill, slicing his throat.

Their opponent hadn’t been alone. Another man appeared out of nowhere, running towards Troy, but didn’t notice Madison as he passed by. She hit the man on the back, causing him to fall down, then struck at his head.  Barely a moment passed before when another three Native Americans arrived on the scene. Madison crouched among the shelves, waiting for the opportunity to strike. The men attacked Troy, and as they struggled with with him, she dispatched two of them from behind, using the same tactics as before.

“Thanks for the help, Maddie,” he panted, resting his hands on his legs, trying to catch his breath. “I like this shifty fighting style of yours,” he continued, amused.

That was when Troy noticed Madison’s new weapon.

“Nice bat. Black is my favorite color. Besides green,” he said and winked, looking into her green eyes.

 

*

 

 “Is everyone here? Good. Has anyone run into the people from the reservation?” Troy asked when they returned to their car to meet the others.

The men were surprised by this question and shook their heads.

“Nick, did you see anything?”

“I only saw walkers. What are you talking about?”

“We ran into a group of them at the mall. We killed them but we need to dispose of the bodies, so Walker and his company won’t be able to blame us without proof.”

“But what if there are more of them? They’ve probably seen us by now,” Cooper voiced the concern that the other men shared.

“I doubt it. We raided the same places they were interested in. And Nick would have probably spotted them as well, especially if they had started driving, right?”

“Yeah. Probably.”

“Alright, then. Me and Madison are going to take a little detour and get rid of the bodies, not far from the other end of the city. You guys should head home, we’ll join you soon.”

Troy turned to Nick.

“Sorry Nick, but since we will put the dead fellas on the platform of the car, that means we need those backseats for the supplies we hoarded. You should join the others. No hard feelings, ok?”

Nick knitted his brows at that. Madison didn’t want more hostilities between them and she knew Troy really didn’t mean anything by his request.

“Perhaps Nick could accompany you, Troy.” she soothed. “He would be more help to you than me.”

“I don’t want that, thank you,” Nick quipped back, resentment evident in his voice.

Madison sighed. There had to be some way to make the two of them put their differences aside.

“You’ve been a great help, Nick,” she said, hugging her son.

“Take care, mom,” he replied simply and stalked off in the direction of the others.

She felt guilt begin to rise in her chest but she quickly dismissed it, knowing that she didn’t have time for it, that she needed to focus.

“Let’s grab those bodies and get the hell out of here,” Troy said.

They returned to the store, and together they quickly loaded the bodies on the back of the truck.

“So…you got your music?” he smiled at her when they were out of town, Madison sitting beside him.

She just smiled and pointed at the bag in her lap. He opened the bag with one hand and saw quite a lot of CDs in it.

“Great, I see you’ve been busy collecting,” he said laughing.

She smiled back at him, content.

As they continued to drive, Madison noticed Troy was acting strange. He constantly looked in the rear view mirror, as if he expected something to come up behind them, and every time she caught him doing this he quickly looked elsewhere. Since the road they were traveling on was completely deserted, not even walkers wandering around, and no one was following them, Madison got annoyed.

“Troy.”

“Yeah?”

“Why do you keep looking in the mirror? Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing at all,” he said, trying to sound casual.

But Madison knew that guilty expression of his. Suddenly, she put the pieces together in her head. He had been looking at the bodies on the back of the truck.

“Troy, were those guys finished for good?”

“What, do they look alive to you?” he grinned, glancing back at them.

“I mean permanently?”

He licked his lips nervously and cautiously looked at Madison, anxiety clear in his eyes. Every time he lied to her, he felt like she could see into his soul, that she knew the truth.

“Not all of them,” he confessed, avoiding eye contact.

“I suspected as much. I asked you to be cautious and to control yourself.”

She thought he had given up his bizarre ‘hobby’, but he was still obsessed.

“I know what I’m doing, Madison. I calculated it, it should happen in 15 minutes. Trust me, there won’t be any problems.”

“They could bite us when we unload them from the truck. It IS dangerous.”

“That won’t happen. You know I’ll take care of you. Always.”

He stopped the car and moved the bodies off to the side of the road, pulling two of them a little further from the others. He stood next to them, looking at his watch.

“Troy, I don’t want to stand around here, in the middle of nowhere, for nothing. Not to mention it’s going to be dark soon. It may take a whole day for them to reanimate,” Madison said, annoyed.

“Just trust me.”

After less than a minute, one of the dead started to move.

“See? I told you,” Troy said excitedly. He immediately took out his notebook and wrote down his ideas.

Madison just rolled her eyes and stuck a knife into the walker’s head before it could get up.

Another few minutes passed, and the same happened to the other corpse.  Troy was clearly proud of himself, and Madison decided she wouldn’t argue with him about this obsession. As long as he didn’t kill innocent people, she’d let him have his way.

She was glad Nick didn’t accompany them in the end. She didn’t want to hear his opinion about her psychotic lover.

The two of them hastily buried the dead with shovels they found at the store, and they headed back home.

*

 

When they arrived at the ranch they were so exhausted they just washed the blood and dirt away from themselves and collapsed into Troy’s bed. She decided to stay with him this time, which made him happier than ever.

“I’m so glad I have you. Thanks for coming here, it means a lot to me,” he murmured.

They kissed, slow and passionate.  After a few minutes, Troy stopped and looked at her with the usual awe in his eyes.

“I love you, Madison.”

“I love you too.”

“I’ve been thinking…we would have never met or become a pair if it wasn’t for the apocalypse. One of the reasons I don’t mind that it happened.”

“From that perspective, I don’t mind it either.”

She soon drifted off, and he watched her sleep peacefully at his side. She was so beautiful he just couldn’t keep his eyes off her, just like he did the first time at the border station.  This woman had completely turned his world upside down. He reached out and caressed her cheek gently, careful not to wake her up. He was very proud that she chose him as her romantic partner and that she enjoyed being with him so much.

 

*

 

The ranch was big and safe, but to Madison it sometimes felt like a prison, and she had never been the stay-at-home type. One evening she was walking along the fence, wandering aimlessly, deep in thought, when Jeremiah approached her, a mug in his hand.

“Madison, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure.”

“I’ve heard strange rumors involving you and Troy… I’d like to know if they’re true or not.”

Not this again. She’d enough of these awkward conversations. What had Troy dragged her into? She suspected the militiamen had started gossiping, because of what they saw in the town. She knew Jake or her children wouldn’t have been the ones telling stories.

“Me and your son, we’ve been... together for some time.”

He was clearly surprised and didn’t respond at once.

“I see. He was never normal  --no offense to you-- so  I shouldn’t even be surprised by anything now. Well, do what you want, you’re adults. But you will certainly get a lot of disapproving stares from the community here. We are a rather conservative bunch, as you may have noticed.”

“We’ll try to live with that,” she said plainly.

He only smiled at her comment a little, then gave the tea which he was holding to her, and walked away.

Well, that certainly went smoother than she expected. It was embarrassing of course, but at least Jeremiah wasn’t hostile towards her like her children were. Maybe it was because he knew Troy was in good hands, so to speak. She also felt relieved of a great weight, at least they didn’t have to be secretive anymore, it has been tiresome enough.


	4. Blood moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It astonished Troy to see her like this. He had never seen her in a moment of weakness. He realized that she must have been in shock, but he had no idea what to do about it.”

Madison and Troy decided to go solo. They worked well together, and they realized that on many occasions, it was better if they didn’t have company who would only slow them down or question their methods. They had also been preparing a secret plan together on how to get rid of the Walker threat.

“We should only take Walker out. The others in the nation might have better judgment, they may not be as bloodthirsty and vengeful as he is; and they have families too,” Madison reasoned.

“I’m not sure about this, Madison. We don’t know their culture enough, we don’t know how they make decisions or how they would react. It might add more fuel to the fire. What are you planning, exactly?”

“Can you shoot him with a sniper rifle?”

“I’m not exactly a sharpshooter, but I think I can. I hope you don’t suggest that we go to the reservation and just shoot him? I won’t walk into the lions den.”

“No, of course not. You mentioned that one of your men saw them returning to the same area a few different times.  It’s far enough from the reservation, there won’t be a lot of them around. Maybe we could try it there.”

“That might be a good idea. I can’t wait to put a bullet into the bastard’s head. But the problem is, we can’t get there by car. We wouldn’t be able to hide it due to the barren landscape there.”

“Then we go on foot. It’s not that far from here, right?”

“Risky. It’s a really long walk, it could take almost whole day to get there and back,” Troy explained.

 “You know how high the stakes are. We can’t waste our time. Everyone knows Walker is dangerous, yet no one wants to face the fact that something has to be done.”

“You’re right. We have to try.”

*

 

“When was the first time you killed a walker and where did it happen?” Troy asked her as they walked towards their destination in the desert.

Her face darkened and she sighed.

“It happened in the school I used to work in. The man I killed was my boss, he was the principal. He was a good man.”

Troy became more curious.

“Oh. How did it happen?”

“He attacked one of the students and I had to kill him.”

“What happened to the kid? Did they survive?”

“I saved his life but we parted ways. He was very smart and resourceful, I believe he’s still alive somewhere. But I really don’t want to talk about this, Troy. It’s a terrible memory.”

“I’m sorry, Madison. I didn’t want to upset you; I just want to know you better. You know almost everything about me but you are so secretive about yourself.”

She had never opened up to him enough to tell him everything about her life.

“You’re right. I’m just not used to talking about my feelings or my past, you know? Don’t take it personally. But there’s not much I haven’t told you yet, and it’s really not that interesting.”

“Madison, everything about you is interesting to me, you know that,” he said, smiling.

She smiled back at him.  She had come to realize that Troy was in fact a wonderful person, if someone took the effort to look deeper than the surface. It wasn’t immediately apparent to many, but in the brief time they’d been together Madison had taken the time to look past his temper, his explosive attitude, and his peculiarities when it came to his obsession with the dead, and she found that she really liked what she found underneath.

 “Alright, this should be the place where they tend to hang around,” Troy announced and looked around when they arrived. They didn’t see anything special there, but they decided to wait for the nation to arrive.

She and Troy hid on a hill behind the bushes. He was lying on his stomach, holding the sniper rifle in front of him, thinking of how he could carry out their plan when the time was right. Madison sat beside him in the shade, resting her back against him. She glanced at the ground next to her, and realized a large tarantula was inches from her legs. She got scared, pulled her knees up and instinctively grabbed Troy’s shoulder.

“Shit, Madison! Don’t scare me like that! I almost fired the gun!”

He looked at her, trying to figure out what had caused her to panic.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry. There was a tarantula,” she paused, looking around. “but it ran away.”

“They’re quite common here. Just kick sand on them and they’ll leave,” he responded, attempting to sound nonchalant, but Madison saw a grin creep across his face as he looked back down the road.

An hour passed before several trucks stopped on the road in front of them.

“There he is!” Troy whispered, excitement in his voice when he saw Walker getting out of one of the cars.

“Can you take him out from here?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

Things weren’t going to be that easy for them, however. The number of Natives who got out of the trucks were greater than they had expected, and all of them had assault rifles.

“There’s too many of them. They’ll notice where the shot came from, and we’ll quickly be outnumbered,” Madison cautioned.

“We can win this,” Troy insisted.

“Don’t do anything,” she warned, but she saw anger and agitation growing in his eyes. “Troy,” she continued, putting her hand slowly on his. 

He slowly looked at her for a moment, then finally let go of the weapon, covering his eyes in frustration. The Natives started to leave soon after.

 “Fuck this shit!” he cried out in frustration after the men left. “We’ll never be able to get rid of him if we continue like this. I told you we should take direct action.”

“We could, if the reservation was a small settlement, but it isn’t.”

“We have better weapons and better trained people.”

“But we would wipe each other out. Like 80%.”

“They just can’t leave us alone. They’re after our supplies, I tell you.”

 They walked back home a way away from the main road in case someone drove up on them they could hide behind a bush. Madison kept listening to Troy’s rant, letting him vent off his anger.

“We never gave a shit about them. They were the ones who were constantly bothering us, through the law or by other means. I’m sick of it. I want to end this.”

“We all do, Troy,” she said plainly. “We’ll come back here again. The opportunity to kill him will eventually come.”

 

*

 

Since both the Ottos and the Clarks knew about their relationship, Madison often stayed with Troy at night, especially since her relationship with Nick and Alicia had become quite strained.

“He can’t replace you,” she said to them, when they argued about Troy.

“Really? Seems like he already did. You’ve been spending more time with him than us. Like going on mysterious missions with him, and no one really knows why or where,” Nick said resentfully, pacing the room, his hands tucked into his pockets.

“I’ve been doing the same as before. Protecting you and the ranch. Would it be too much to ask for a little gratitude every now and then? What the hell do you think I’m doing all of this for?” Madison fired back, her hands planted firmly on her hips.

They thought she enjoyed this. Alright, _maybe_ she did, but only some of it. Constantly keeping track of things and paying attention to the details was no small feat.

 “Frankly, mom, you have gone a little crazy too,” Alicia said. “I still think he’s replacing us.”

“No, Alicia. You two are the ones who are pushing me away from you.”

 

*

 

“There’s nothing special here. Why would they visit this place so often?” Madison thought aloud, when they checked the place two days later, walking around the spot the Natives stopped last time.

“Don’t ask me. Maybe it has something to do with their beliefs.”

As she looked around, she found a bottle near one of the bushes and picked it up.

“It’s alcohol. There’s still some left. I’m thirsty but not that thirsty,” she said, throwing it back on the ground.

“I never drink,” Troy replied in a low voice.

It was needless to say why. As he paced around, he kicked the bottle away, and Madison saw so much hatred in that simple movement. She thought he didn’t even realize how strong he was, even with his mental problems. Many children copied the mistakes and addictions of their parents, but he wasn’t among them.

As he watched the bottle slowly roll away, Troy noticed something on the ground not far from him.

“Hey, look! There’s a trap door there!”

Madison hurried over to see what he had found.

“Here’s the answer then. It’s probably some kind of storage.”

Troy tried to open it but it was locked with two padlocks.

“It’s locked. I don’t want to shoot at them. An axe would come handy right about now.”

Moments later, they heard the sound of engines. Two trucks appeared in the distance. They were definitely from the nation.

“Oh shit, that’s the worst possible timing ever,” Troy hissed anxiously.

There wasn’t enough time to get to a safe place, so they quickly dove among the bushes not far away, their hearts racing. Troy held his rifle, ready to shoot if things went wrong. This time only a handful of the nation exited the vehicles, but that didn’t help them much, they were still at a disadvantage. Some of the men carried large sacks with who-knows-what inside and put them next to the trap door, the others scouted the area.

Madison suddenly felt someone grab her, lifting her from the ground and painfully yanking her arm behind her back. She had no idea how they managed to creep up on them so quickly and quietly. She watched helplessly as Troy was attacked as well, struggling with another Native who tried to take his weapon from him. Madison took the knife from her belt with her free hand, and managed to stab it into the arm of her attacker, who released her at once. She saw that Troy was in a more dire situation, as three people tried to bring him down. She started to run towards them, hoping to intervene, but another man caught her and dragged her away from him, holding her in a way she couldn’t fight or escape. She desperately wanted to help Troy, she wanted to get them off him, but she could do nothing but watch as they beat him. Troy was better at hand-to-hand combat, his enemies had a hard time hitting him, but he couldn’t last long being outnumbered three to one. Eventually they subdued him, and threw him to the ground, kicking and punching him wherever they could. By the time they finished, all he could do was groan in pain. He laid on his back, clutching his side.

Madison saw Walker coming towards them and her heart skipped a few beats. Things were about to go downhill fast.

The men grabbed Troy by his arms and lifted him to stand. Seeing Walker, anger took over him. He struggled wildly against their grip, but to no avail. Madison was amazed how much strength he still had after being hurt so badly.

“We’ve got the young Otto as well,” one of the Natives said.

“What a lucky day,” Walker marveled with a cruel smile.

Walker stood in front of Madison, and signaled the man to release her from his grip. She tried to hide her feelings and fear as much as she could, holding his stare.

“Just the two of you? That is strange,” Walker observed, looking around suspiciously.

“We didn’t know this place was yours,” Madison lied.

“I don’t believe you, Madison. Lurking among the bushes doesn’t seem to be an innocent activity. Today the Ottos, tomorrow the Clarks. You _will_ learn you cannot mess with us.”

Walker waved to his men, and one of them took a knife out, putting it to Troy’s neck.

The Natives held him tightly, ready to slice his throat as soon as Walker gave the order. She saw that he wasn’t afraid to die, but there was also an incredible sadness in his eyes. Sadness due to not being able to defend her as he promised to always do.

 _“We’re not invincible, Madison,”_ he thought. _“Not you, not me. Just because we’re stronger and better fit for this world than others, it doesn’t mean no harm will come to us.”_

He kept his eyes fixated on her. Her face was the last thing he wanted to see before he died.

“We didn’t do anything. This isn’t fair, Walker,” Madison spoke firmly.

Walker just laughed in response and turned, ready to kill Troy himself, when Madison began to panic. They were really going to kill Troy this time, and she couldn’t maintain her tough façade any longer. She lost Travis only months ago, and she couldn’t bear to lose Troy too. All logic told her to stay calm but like many times before, logic failed her when it came to Troy.  

“Don’t hurt him!” she yelled at Walker, and despite all her efforts to stay calm and collected, her voice faltered.

Walker was greatly surprised by her behavior. Her voice and the way she and Troy looked at each other made it clear to him that there was something going on between the two, that they had a very strong bond. Only one thing would make a person behave this desperate and panicked: love.

After several nerve-racking seconds, Walker finally spoke.

“Release him,” he ordered his men.

The Natives pushed Troy to the ground.

“I warn you, Madison. No more tricks, or not only will your lover die but your children as well. If you try anything we’ll know it was you.”

Troy quickly got to his knees, trying to look confident despite his close brush with death. The Natives started to leave and he didn’t dare move until they were gone.  Once more, they took all of their weapons and supplies, except some water, just for the fun it.

Madison was acting strange, and it worried him. Even after the nation headed off she knelt on the ground and wouldn’t stand.

He slowly got up from the ground, wiped his bleeding nose, and limped over to her, despite the pain from to the severe beating he received. He carefully knelt in front of her. 

“Madison?”

He noticed at once that she had a far off look in her eyes, as if she didn’t even see him. She didn’t respond, just suddenly hugged him with such intensity as if her life depended on it, never wanting to let him go.  It astonished Troy to see her like this. He had never seen her in a moment of weakness. He realized that she must have been in shock, but he had no idea what to do about it. He had never been taught about things like this. Hell, he hadn’t been raised in a loving, healthy family either. How could he know how to act in a situation like this?

“It’s ok, Maddie, it’s ok,“ he murmured soothingly, caressing her back and kissing the top of her head, trying to calm her.

When he eventually tried to pull away from her, she grabbed the front of his jacket so hard he couldn’t have taken her hands away even if he wanted to. Troy decided it would be best not to agitate her further, so he stood up and took her into his arms. He needed to find a safer place than this, being out in the open where anyone could see or attack them - whether human or undead – was dangerous.  He knew they wouldn’t be able to walk the distance home, not with Madison being in this state and with his current injuries.

He hid an assault rifle nearby the last time they were here, just in case, and he was thankful he did. Next to a peculiarly shaped bush, he started digging and to his relief, there it was, an AK-47.

He found a tree where they could sit, and he rested his back against it, Madison still hugging him, her face nuzzled against his chest. He held her with one arm and the rifle with the other.  He was so glad he hid that Kalashnikov rifle before, they would have been defenseless without it.

The night arrived quickly, only the stars providing light against the darkness. He noticed Madison had  drifted off in his embrace. He was extremely tired, but didn’t dare close his eyes, in fear he would fall asleep and walkers would creep up on them. His eyes constantly scanned the darkness for any movement and he listened for unfamiliar noises. There were rarely any walkers in the desert, but one can never be too careful, and paranoia slowly started to get to him. The temperature began to fall, but that was the lesser problem, water was the biggest concern. When the sun rose there was no telling how long they could go on with only one bottle of water…

Rage started to boil in his chest, and he swore that Walker would pay for this. He wouldn’t rest until he finished him, he wouldn’t. Giving up was never in his nature.  Tears fell silently from his eyes, from feeling so powerless and humiliated.

After several hours passed, he finally saw the first rays of the sun, and he knew they couldn’t wait any longer.

“Madison, look at me,” he coaxed her.

She neither responded, nor looked up at him.

“Madison, please.” he gently took her chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him. “We have to go. It’s dangerous here. We’ll die out here if we don’t. We have to go home now, ok?”

She made eye contact with him, although her eyes were still somewhat distant.

“Yes,” she whispered faintly, her voice barely audible.

At last, she said something. It was heartbreaking for Troy to see her like this. She seemed so small and vulnerable now. He helped her up and supported her for a while.

They walked for hours, the sun scorching them. Fortunately, they had hoodies which protected them from being badly burned, but dehydration was a more pressing issue. He made her drink almost the whole bottle of water.

“Don’t worry, I’ll manage,” Troy replied when she protested, seeing how little he drank.

He looked at his watch. He estimated they only needed a few more hours to get home. Soon, they noticed a bunch of walkers hanging around the road, who certainly were not there before.

“Oh, damn it,” Troy groaned painfully, when he saw the undead.

He knew they couldn’t risk taking a detour, it was already questionable if they could reach the ranch in time. But he had the AK-47, a soldier’s best friend. He was glad he didn’t need to engage in close combat, he was exhausted and weak from the exposure to the elements, lack of sleep, and the fight with the Natives.

“I’ll shoot them, ok? Stay behind me,” he told Madison, raising the gun.

“Ok,” she repsonded weakly.

He didn’t get too close to them, and only missed once. The shots were almost deafening in the silence of the desert, and he could only hope no more undead were drawn to them. He quickly rummaged through the possessions of the dead, but found nothing useful.

The same thoughts had been going through his mind on repeat: he must take Madison home, he must make sure no harm would come to her. He must carry on walking, no matter what. No matter what.

His life had always been miserable, but since Madison has joined them she was like a light in the darkness for him. He couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t live without her.

When they finally reached the ranch, he saw the guards in the distance opening the gate and running up towards them.

 _“We’re safe. You’re safe.”_ he thought before falling to the ground, losing consciousness.

 

*

 

 “Where is she?” that was the first thing Troy asked when he came around.

He was in his own house and bed, with Jake walking around the room.

“She’s at her children’s house. As far as I know, she’s going to be alright.”

Troy tried to get up at once, but Jake stopped him.

“What are you doing? You still need some rest.”

“You can’t keep me away from her,” he snapped impulsively.

“You have a cracked rib!”

“Well, thanks for letting me know. I hadn’t even noticed it,” he replied sarcastically, and got up. Jake knew he would stubbornly do what he wanted, injured or not.

“What happened between you and Walker?”

“Oh, just the usual. You know, threatening us, hurting us, leaving us to rot in the desert. I’ve had my share of these desert walks lately,” he said nonchalantly while lacing his boots.

“How did you get into that situation anyway?”

“I had a plan with Madison. A plan, for how to win against them. It didn’t work out. But let’s discuss this later.”

“Dad wants to hear your explanation too.”

“I bet he does.”

Troy walked to the Clark’s house with hasty steps, knocking on the door. He waited impatiently with his hands on his hips until Nick opened the door. When he saw Troy his face darkened. Troy just nodded at him and walked past him without saying a word. Alicia was also there, sitting on her bed, somehat surprised to see him there. Madison sat in one of the chairs resting, her eyes closed.

Troy crouched in front of her and took her hands into his.

“I’m here,” he murmured, knowing there was everything in that simple sentence.

She opened her eyes and looked at him wearily. She seemed fine now, excluding the sadness that lingered there.

“Troy,” she said softly, a small smile crossing her face.

She said his name in such a loving way, he always got shivers when he heard it. He smiled back at her.

He leaned in and kissed her lips, not caring in the least that her children were present.

“It’s best you stay here with your children for a while, Madison.”

She nodded silently.

He smiled again, then stood up and headed off. Nick followed him and stopped him outside.

“What did you drag her into this time? he demanded furiously. “What happened to the two of you? She’s hardly said anything to us!”

“I didn’t drag her into anything. She came with me on her own. It was Walker who messed with us again, except he wanted to kill us this time,” he snapped back. Madison’s meddlesome son made him boil with rage, but at the same time, it amused him that he didn’t know his mother was the one who was the mastermind of their mission.

 “Yeah, we know that much. What we want to know is why she’s so broken down!”

 “Direct your anger at Walker. He gave us a hard time again, of course she’s upset. I would do anything to protect your mother. You should be grateful for that! _In fact, I’ve done much more for her than you’ve possibly ever done,”_ he added silently. He didn’t want to upset Madison further by arguing with her son, even though it would have been so satisfying to say the truth to Nick’s face.

He decided not to reveal the details of the awful situation they had gotten themselves into. No one needed to know how broken Madison was. Not even her children. It would stay between them.

He left in a hurry, not waiting for Nick’s retort. He had already had a very hard time restraining himself and he didn’t want to lose control.

Alicia stepped out of the house and gave Nick a worried look.

“Nick, you should stop being so rude to him. He really does love mom, and wants the best for her. And she loves him too. We don’t have to like him, but we should respect her decision.”

“You’re right, Alicia. I’ll try to do that, but it’s not easy. And mom’s been acting strange since she hooked up with him.”

“To be honest, Nick, she’s been acting strange ever since the end of the world began. But otherwise, you’re right,” she replied and went back to the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to create a situation where Troy needs to cope with Madison relying on him completely. He’s too accustomed to Madison bossing him around or being his equal, not someone who needs his protection. She's kind of a psycho just like Troy is, but that doesn’t mean she can never reach her limits.


	5. Caught in the storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After recovering from last day’s events, they need to form a new plan to finish the Walker threat once and for all.

Madison couldn’t bear to be away from Troy for long. They laid on their backs in the bed the following day, hugging each other, with Troy caressing her arm as they cuddled.

 “I showed weakness in front of the enemy. Walker knows he won, and he’ll probably exploit our relationship. I screwed up,” Madison whispered, blaming herself.

“You didn’t screw anything up, it was just shitty timing when they got us. I won’t accept any guilt from you, Madison. Together, we’re stronger than anyone else.”

“I’ve been on the road ever since the chaos broke out. I’ve had to make a lot of tough decisions and been through more than I’ve ever thought I would. I was always the voice of reason. And my life wasn’t a fairy tale in the old world either.”

“I know,’ Troy soothed, although he still didn’t know everything about her past, he wanted to comfort her regardless.  

“But I was weak.”

Troy pulled away to look into her green eyes.

“You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he admitted, his blue eyes shining with intensity.

“I feel the same about you. I love you,” Madison replied softly.

She put one hand on his face and kissed him, then slid her other hand under his shirt, caressing his skin.

It wasn’t much later that she moaned above him, straddling his lap as she rode him. He slowly slid his hands up from her waist to her breasts, caressing them as she moved above him. Following their orgasm, she leaned down and kissed him.

“I want more,” she demanded hungrily.

A big smirk spread over Troy’s face as he flipped her over onto her back. He crawled on top of her and began kissing her neck, as she ran her fingers through his thick hair.

Sometimes it was still hard for him to believe she was his. Being truly loved by someone was something he had never experienced before and now he was addicted to the feeling. He wanted to spend all of his time with Madison, to make her happy.

Madison had a similar obsession with Troy. She had never felt so much passion for another man before him. Her and Troy were so alike, he made her lose her mind, and not entirely in a bad way, either. The fact that both of them had a dark past only strengthened their bond. He was so hungry for love that he admired her as if she was a goddess, and gave everything he had to make her happy. No one had ever loved her the way he did.

*

The next morning, while Troy got dressed, Madison noticed she had gotten carried away last night and left long scratch marks on his back with her fingernails.

“Sorry about that,” she said, embarrassed.

“It doesn’t matter,” Troy smirked, content. “I’m glad you enjoyed it that much.”

Later, Troy and Madison worked in the garden with some of the other residents. It was an especially hot day, and most of the men took their shirts off.

“See what you did to me, Madison?” Troy said, pointing at his back. “It’s so hot outside but I can’t take my shirt off, the others might ask questions,” he grinned, teasing her.

She blushed a little and laughed. It was rare to see her embarrassed, let alone blushing, and it amused him very much.

“Who’d have thought you were so wild?” he continued, still grinning.

“That’s enough, Troy,” she replied, still laughing.

Madison smiled more since they had become a couple and that made Troy really happy. Before, she rarely smiled at anything or anyone, and there was so much sadness in her eyes. And the distant, almost empty look she often had suggested that she lived in her own world. Troy knew there were things she didn’t reveal to him about her previous life. Things, which were undoubtedly serious and dark, and he couldn’t help but wonder if she would ever talk about them.

*

Their cheerful mood didn’t last long, visiting Jeremiah had a way of killing their mood even at the best of times.  He, as usual sat at his desk and they stood before him.

“So, care to explain what the hell happened out there? And why you’ve been away so much lately, just the two of you? Jeremiah demanded then added. “I don’t think you were just going on romantic trips.”

Troy and Madison glanced at each other for a few moments.

“We had a plan to kill Walker with as little bloodshed as possible,” Troy answered finally.

“Why do you keep agitating them?” Jeremiah asked, annoyed.

“They’re already agitated enough without our help,” Madison pointed out.

“I don’t like the way you think this ranch is yours, Madison. You overstep and drag my boy with you,” Jeremiah complained resentfully, then looked at Troy. “And you, why do you listen to her anyway?”

“She’s with me, she has every right to say her opinion and contribute to our safety,” Troy retorted angrily, putting one of his arms around Madison’s shoulder as he spoke, pulling her a bit closer to himself.

His father snorted loudly at this.

“Ah, yes. Your girlfriend,” he said sarcastically.

Madison just rolled her eyes but Troy became angrier.

“I knew it. It’s pointless arguing with you,” he snapped impatiently. “We even found a trap door in the desert that they kept visiting, probably stockpiling weapons or something.”

“It’s probably only storage. I don’t think it’s that important,” he waved his hand dismissively. “I want you to stop this, once and for all.”

“Right,” Troy growled, clearly irritated, then took Madison by the arm and pulled her out of the house.  

Neither of them spoke a word until they entered Troy’s home.

“His attitude is ridiculous,” Troy fumed, pacing in front of her like a caged animal.

_“He only cares about drinking, that’s why,”_ she thought but she knew better than to say that to Troy, it would only infuriate him further.

“We can’t carry on with these pointless negotiations. We must kill Walker, plain and simple,” Troy continued, gesturing wildly.

“I agree with you, but we can’t do this alone. We tried and failed. We need to change the plans. But all the people here want to do is stick their heads in the sand and pretend everything’s fine.”

“I don’t want to wait for the day when they butcher all of us in our sleep. We can’t let them take our home. And about that trap door…”

She grabbed his arm, worry in her eyes.

“Don’t even think about it. You know we can’t go back there. They’d be on us in no time. Don’t forget that our original plan was to assassinate Walker, and whatever we found there wasn’t a priority. It nearly cost your life.”

“They’re preparing for war!”

“That’s old news, Troy,” Madison commented wearily, releasing his arm and walking over to the sofa, taking a seat.

“I mean, they probably hoard their relics or whatever there to protect them in case there’s fighting on the reservation. They anticipate an attack. We should lure them out, do the opposite of what they expect.”

“We need to gain the support of others. Jeremiah told me there are no real leaders in the community, that everyone is free here. We don’t have to stop just because he doesn’t approve.”

“True, but we’re the founding family.”

“That means you and Jake have power too,” she pointed out.

“You know Jake’s point of view. He’s hopeless,” Troy shrugged, sitting down next to her.

“Don’t be so sure about that.”

*

During lunch she noticed that Troy was upset and barely ate anything, just picking at his food. She didn’t need to ask what his problem was, she knew it well. In fact, she wasn’t in a good mood either.

Besides, some of the older residents looked skeptically at them, gossiping behind their backs. Just as Jeremiah warned, some people in the community couldn’t get over their relationship.

“I guess I didn’t make you any more popular, did I?” Madison asked wearily, watching them talk amongst themselves.

“I don’t care what they think,” Troy shrugged.

He leaned back in his seat and put his arm around her shoulder, looking in the direction of anyone staring too long, his eyes issuing a silent challenge. Madison just sighed.

A few minutes later Alicia sat down in front of them with her tray and Troy looked at her with distrust.

“Mom, I think you should talk to Jake.”

“About what?” Madison asked, surprised.

“About Walker. I think he has doubts.”

“You mean he finally realized his approach is wrong?” Troy asked sarcastically.

“A solution can only be reached together, that’s for sure,” Alicia answered.

“That’s exactly what we’ve been trying to do this whole time but didn’t get much support,” Troy snapped at her angrily.

Madison put her hand on Troy’s and gave him a warning look before turning back to Alicia.

“I’ll do that. Thank you, Alicia.”

*

“Troy, will you stop pacing around, please? It’s driving me mad,” Madison said, rolling her eyes.

She tried to read a book in order to take her mind off their problems, but she couldn’t concentrate on the words. Troy, restless as usual, was walking back and forth through the rooms of his house.

“I can’t. We need to find a solution.”

“I’ll talk to Jake, don’t worry.”

“It’s not just gaining allies. We need to train more people, think of a new strategy…a lot of things.”

An hour later, Troy led her to the armory, handing her an assault rifle.

“I’ll teach you how to use these, ok? You’re already good at shooting, it won’t be a challenge to you.”

“I’m up for anything.”

He smiled at her. That was the Madison he loved. Determined, ready to do what needed to be done, and not taking shit from anybody.

Just as he thought, she was really talented. He watched her practicing, awestruck, looking at her as if she was a goddess.

“What?” Madison asked, when she noticed him staring at her.

“Nothing,” he smiled. “You’re really good at this, you know.”

“I hope so,” she smiled and sat next to him.

 “Oh, I almost forgot. Look what I found the other day,” he said and handed a candy bar to her.

Madison had a sweet tooth and she didn’t even remember the last time she had eaten chocolate. She took it and wolfed it down. Troy laughed as he watched her.

“If I had known you loved chocolate that much, I’d have offered you that instead of tea when we first met. Maybe you’d have been nicer to me,” he teased her, grinning.

“Don’t count on that. I’d have still beaten you,” she replied with a smile.

“If you’re referring to the spoon incident, you cheated. And I held back, because I didn’t want to hurt you too much,” Troy smirked.

*

Troy and Madison sat in their truck at the crossroads near the ranch, on watch for the night. They volunteered to patrol to keep an eye out for walkers or anything suspicious.  As far as Troy was concerned, not a single undead was allowed to roam their lands. If they were lazy about killing the loners, their numbers would eventually grow considerably.

It was really cold that night and Madison folded her arms, shivering a little. Troy noticed she was cold and reached into the backseats, getting a blanket from under a pile of supplies, wrapping it around her shoulders. 

“Here, take this,” he said with a smile and leaned in to kiss her lips. He was always eager to make her happy.

“Thanks. I didn’t know we had one back there,” she smiled back at him.

Sometimes she was still amazed at how tender and caring he could be. She rested her head on his shoulder and he put an arm around her. Being next to him always made her feel safe. It seemed like ages had passed since their conflict at the border.

Troy began thinking about the events of the last few days, and how close they came to death. He was torn between checking the trapdoor again and his concern for Madison. He knew if something happened to him it would break her, and he understood the feeling. He had felt the same way when they first met at the border station, when he desperately wanted her to leave with him.

“You have no idea how scared I was when we were at the border and I didn’t know whether you’d come with me to the ranch or not,” he confessed to Madison.

She looked up at him, not really understanding why he brought that up now.

“Yeah, I noticed that,” she said with a half smile. “Don’t worry, I won’t leave you.”

She reached up, pulling his head lower and kissed him.

*

Early in the morning, as she headed towards the mess tent for breakfast, she heard Troy shouting angrily with someone nearby. It was definitely not a good way to start a day.

“How dare you? This place isn’t your home, you’re just a stranger here, you should be happy to be even here!”

As she moved towards the source of the outburst, she heard Nick’s voice, shouting something back. She rolled her eyes and hastened her steps. Those two just couldn’t restrain themselves. By the time she reached them she saw Troy throwing Nick to the ground and punching him several times.

He had been controlling his anger toward Nick long enough, for the sake of Madison, but things had reached a boiling point and he couldn’t ignore or let go all the things he said to him.

“Enough, Troy!” Madison yelled at him angrily.

She grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him away from her son. Troy turned around and when she looked into his eyes she saw fear in them. He was afraid to disappoint her. He didn’t say anything, just left hastily.

Madison turned to Nick, as he got up from the ground, wiping his bleeding nose.

“You know what he’s like, why do you have to constantly provoke him?!” she hissed through with gritted teeth, not wanting others to hear their conversation. “What the hell happened?”

“We argued about some things. Including you,” Nick answered annoyed.

“Nick, I thought we’d been over this. I love him and he’s important to me. Just like you. Both of you need to control yourselves!”

She left Nick to tend to his minor injuries and walked off to search for Troy. She found him sitting on a wooden box not far away, hands on his forehead, and a worried expression on his face. Before she could say anything, Troy spoke, quick to apologize to her.

“I’m sorry, Madison. I tried to stop. I really did,” he said regretfully.

“I know.” Her voice had an edge to it as she spoke. “But this can’t happen again. I won’t let anyone hurt my kids. Not you, not anyone.”

“Are you threatening me, Maddie?”

“Maybe,” was her only response, and Troy couldn’t read the tone in her voice.

She turned to leave but Troy quickly grabbed her arm, turning her back to face him, and smashed his lips against hers.

 “I’m your man now,” he whispered against her lips. “We’re not enemies.”

“Then don’t give me a reason to change that,” she replied angrily, stalking off in the opposite direction.

He had a feeling it was only anger and worry that made her say those things. Their bond was too strong to let a little shoving match with Nick get between them.

*

With tensions so high at the ranch, Madison finally decided to visit Jake as Alicia had suggested.

 “Oh, Madison,” Jake said, clearly surprised by her unexpected visit. He stepped out of the doorway so that she could enter his house. “Come in.”

 “Jake, I want to be frank with you. We need to discuss a few things.”

“Sure, go on. I guess Troy caused some trouble again?”

“We both know your brother isn’t…average, so to speak.”

“Yeah, to put it mildly,” Jake responded with a small laugh.

“I still love him, he’s an extraordinary person. He’s unlike anyone I’ve met in my life so far” she remarked fondly, smiling at him as she spoke. “I think he’s fascinating.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed you have a very strong bond. Actually, I’m happy that he chose someone responsible. You have a good influence on him. Despite it being an….unusual relationship,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“Jake, I know we don’t see eye-to-eye when it comes to Walker, but we need your support. I know you don’t want any violence and normally I’d go for that too, but….it seems we can only do this the hard way. This won’t go anywhere and Walker is a person who won’t be satisfied by anything. Eventually he’ll demand more and more. We –Troy and I—need your support, as a founding family member. We only have to remove Walker. We want peace as much as anyone, we don’t want trouble with the other members of the nation.

Madison sighed. “I really want to live in peace. It feels like this is the last place I have a chance to do so.”

Jake let out a long sigh of his own.

“Madison, I understand your point of view. But do you really think killing Walker would settle things?”

“Definitely.”

Jake was silent for a time, taking a long moment to think before finally answering her.

“Then you have my support. It goes without saying that the ranch and my family comes first.”

“I really like you, Jake. You’re a wise person. But times like these… the morals and ideas we had before must be replaced for the sake of survival.”

“I know what you mean, Madison. It just feels…wrong. But I understand.”

“Thank you,” she said, giving him a reassuring smile.

*

Madison woke up in the middle of the night and saw that it wasn’t morning yet. Troy was still fast asleep beside her, lying on his stomach. She had an uneasy feeling, so she got out the bed and walked to the window. As she walked through the dark room, she swore she heard a gunshot far away, but she didn’t see anything strange when she peered out the window. At first she thought it was probably a walker the sentries shot down, but she realized that at night they only used their guns in case of an emergency, in order not to wake the residents up.

“Troy, wake up. I think something’s wrong,” she worried, walking back over to the bed and leaning down, caressing his back.

He sat up immediately.

“What?” he asked anxiously.

“I heard a gunshot outside.”

Just as Troy got out the bed, several more shots were heard, but this time closer. They looked outside and saw that a fire had also broken out somewhere.

“Walker’s people,” Madison stated, even more worried.

So the Natives finally lost their patience and decided to attack them. Madison found it ironic that just as they got support from others on the ranch, their enemies decided to act.

 “See? I told you this would happen!” Troy fumed.

They quickly got dressed and armed themselves.

“Here, take this. And this…and this too,” he spoke as he handed her a wide range of weapons, as if arming an entire squad.

She knew he had weapons in the house but she wasn’t aware that he had a whole arsenal.

“Let’s go. Stay close to me. I’ll give hell to anyone who tries to harm you or my family.”

He ran out of the house like a raging madman, hardly paying attention to take cover in case of enemy fire. Madison shook her head in annoyance but followed him quickly, knowing he had already passed the point to be reasoned with, but she wanted to give it a try anyway. When she managed to catch up with him she gripped his arm and tried to stop him.

“You need to be more careful!” she hissed.

“Stop bossing me around, will you, Madison?” he snapped at her angrily, keeping an eye out for enemies as they spoke.

“I will, if you won’t let rage overcome you,” she replied, her voice firm.

She had noticed that Troy had been on edge for days, clearly trying to control himself, but she knew that he could explode at any time. Their conflict with Walker and some of the people on the ranch really freaked him out.

She knew she had to stop him from getting any more worked up, before it got worse. She was aware that his anger wasn’t directed at her, but his dark side was impossible to heal, it could only be controlled. She already figured out that there were four stages of Troy’s psychotic tendencies and anger. The third was when he put a knife to her throat while she slept. The fourth…she didn’t even want to know what that would be like.

She looked into his eyes, staring firmly with a challenging glare, unblinking. Her fierce gaze usually caused him to retreat, and she won their staring contests more often than not. Tonight was no exception.

“Ok. Just let’s go already,” he answered finally, annoyed.

“We have to find Nick and Alicia,” Madison looked around, worry in her eyes.

Fortunately, they ran into Nick soon enough. He was crouching at the military tents along with a few other militiamen, holding an assault rifle. A few Natives lay dead not far away.

“They tried to surround us, and they killed most of our sentries,” her son said anxiously.

“Have you seen Alicia?” Madison asked, worried.

“Yeah, she’s nearby, and she’s with Jake.”

The sound of more gunfire suddenly erupted from the direction of the Otto house, and they saw the lights were on. Troy’s face showed a mixture of anger and fear as he realized his father was in danger, and immediately took off in the direction of the big house. Madison was torn between leaving Nick behind and going after Troy. But Nick wasn’t alone and Troy would need help, so she quickly followed him.

She saw Troy stop at the door of Jeremiah’s house. She arrived next to him seconds later, only to see that Jeremiah lay dead on the floor, shot in the head. His rifle was next to him, he hadn’t gone down without a fight.

She watched all the blood drain from Troy’s face as an otherworldly light appeared in his eyes. At that moment Madison realized she couldn’t prevent him from losing control. All she could do was fight alongside him and do her best to keep him from getting injured or killed.

They saw Walker appear from behind the shelves, a satisfied smile on his face, and a rifle in his hands.

“You won’t get away with this, you bastard!” Troy yelled.

Both him and Walker dove for cover and began shooting. Troy fought like a wild animal, going completely psychotic in his rage, and it even surprised Walker.

Madison had stayed outside, taking cover as the bullets began to fly.  She couldn’t shoot, she didn’t want to risk killing Troy by accident. She hid under the window, waiting for an opportunity. As she contemplated what to do, a man appeared next her on the porch, knocking the rifle out of her hands. When she saw his face she realized that she had seen him before, when they visited the reservation. Crazy Dog was his name, as far as Madison remembered. She managed to jump off the porch just in time, before he could shoot her. She suddenly recalled the crawlspace Troy told her about, that he often used to hide there from his father’s drunken rage as a child. Fortunately it didn’t take much time for her to find the entrance, and she quickly hid inside. The Natives had caught them off guard, but they didn’t know the place well enough. She held her pistol in her hands, her heart beating fast. She was glad that Troy armed her with so many weapons. The man was clearly stronger than her, and she couldn’t win in a hand-to-hand fight. Waiting until he passed her hiding spot, she quickly crawled out, shooting him in the head. This setback took too much time and she ran back into the house, worried about Troy more than ever as she realized that the gunshots coming from the house had ceased.

Upon stepping inside, her heart missed a few beats at the scene in front of her. Walker had the upper hand as he tried to stab Troy in the chest with a knife. Troy grabbed at Walker’s hands, trying to defend himself by pushing him away. Madison didn’t hesitate and attacked Walker with her own knife, but the man noticed her in time and backhanded her with such force that she fell to the floor. Seeing Madison hurt only fueled Troy’s rage. Seizing the opportunity of Walker’s distraction, he managed to grab the assault rifle next to his father’s body, just before his enemy could stab him. He shot at him four times and Walker collapsed to the floor in a pool of blood. Killing him would have been satisfying but as he surveyed the body of his father, the victory felt hollow.

Troy knelt next to his dead father. He seemed calm but the look in his eyes was empty and his pupils were dilated. She didn’t dare approach him, afraid that in his current state he wouldn’t recognize her and would attack her as well. She had never seen him so psychotic before. 

“Troy?” she tried to communicate with him in a low voice.

He looked at her but didn’t say anything. More gunfire from outside made Troy to snap back to reality. He stood up and ran out of the house, with Madison following him. There were fights almost everywhere but it seemed that the Natives had started to retreat. They watched as a handful of survivors from the reservation got inside one of their trucks and started to drive away.  But Troy refused to stop. He followed them on foot, trying to shoot down the Natives who sat in the back of the vehicle. They eagerly returned fire as Troy ran behind them. Seeing this, Madison panicked.

“Troy, wait!” she shouted but he ignored her.

She managed to tackle him to the ground, doing her best to hold onto him as he fought to free himself.

“What are you doing? Let me go!” Troy shouted, raging.

‘You’ll kill yourself!” Madison hissed as she struggled to hold him.

“No…let me go…let me go!”

He finally gave up and pushed his face into the dirt and started to sob. Their enemies disappeared into the darkness.

Madison knelt next to him and leaned forward, resting her forehead against his back as she grabbed his jacket. She could feel his pain, and seeing him suffer hurt her as well.

“Troy! Madison! What happened?!” they heard Jake’s voice as he quickly approached them.

He went over to them, Alicia at his side.

“I couldn’t…I couldn’t prevent…” Troy’s voice was muffled and broken, still lying on the ground.

“Jeremiah is dead,” Madison broke the news to Jake.

Jake and Alicia looked astonished and opened their mouths.

“No…” whispered Jake.

A few of the militiamen, along with Nick, had joined them, and Troy hastily got up to his feet, not wanting others to see him in such a weak state. He was thankful for the darkness that surrounded them, that they couldn’t see his tear streaked face. He tried to compose himself and sound confident. He ordered the men to retreat and tend to the wounded. When the others left, Madison turned to Troy.

“We’ve won now, but it’s not over. You know that,” he said firmly.

“I know” she replied, taking his face in her hands. “Now listen. As soon as it gets bright, you’ll gather the militia and we’ll go to the reservation and talk to them about the new state of things. They’re too busy coping with losing their leader, and their casualties are worse than ours. They won’t attack us. And I’d rather Jake accompany us too.”

With only Troy and Jake left in power, it was easier for Madison to manipulate things. She had grown too accustomed to being in control, and she had no intention of letting it go.

Just as he had many times before, Troy let Madison to take the lead. Although he was still full of bloodlust, he felt that her approach could play out better. Besides, he loved her fiery spirit and how determined she was to see things through. Those were among the many things that drew him to her so much.

*

Most of the remaining militia entered the reservation without any resistance. The soldiers who survived the previous night held their weapons in their hands but didn’t attack.  Madison, Troy, and Jake stepped forward. Troy stood with his arms crossed, looking around, trying to detect anything that could be a threat to them.

 “Now that Walker is dead we want to know who’s in charge,” Madison said loudly, looking at the group that had gathered around them upon entering.

The Natives looked at them with hatred and for a minute, they didn’t say or do anything. Then a middle aged man walked through the crowd and stood before her, declaring that he was their new leader.

 “Not all of us agreed with Qaletaqa’s views and ways,” he explained. “But the majority did, because they were eager to get revenge. It didn’t do us any good, clearly.”

Madison could already tell that this man was the opposite of Walker. Unlike their former enemy, he seemed like a peaceful man, and there was no arrogance in his eyes when he looked at her.

“We don’t want more trouble. We should leave each other alone from now on,” Jake stated, looking around at the people gathered.

“We want the same,” the man answered.

Madison also questioned them about the trapdoor and found out that Troy’s guess was right. They brought their relics there in order to keep them safe from the fights.

As they drove home Troy shared his worries with Madison.

“These people are vengeful. I don’t think they’ll ever let this go,” Troy said and shook his head.

“The numbers are on our side now. They wouldn’t risk another fight,” Madison replied confidently.

“I wish I could share your optimism.”

She reached out and placed her hand on his thigh, which made him to look at her.

“Even if they tried we’d take care of it. Just like before,” she reassured him with a smile.

He looked at her for a few seconds, then took her hand in his, and smiled back.

“Yeah, we would,” he said.

*

Troy stood at the porch of the Otto house with his hands in his pockets, looking at the ranch, when Madison approached him and hugged him.

“I want to move in here. I hope you don’t mind. It’s important to me,” he told her as they looked out across the ranch together.

“I don’t mind at all,” she said with a sad smile.

Troy sat down on the stairs and she did the same. They stayed silent for a short time before Madison asked:

“What about leadership?”

“I like fighting and that’s what I do best. It’s enough for me to lead the militia.” Troy shrugged.

“Are you sure about this? You’d be much better as a leader.”

“Let Jake handle delicate things like diplomacy. I’ll handle war,” he laughed.

Madison didn’t like his answer, but at the same time she knew that she had already been quite an influence on things, so she decided she would continue like before. At least for the time being. She also knew that gaining Jake’s support wouldn’t be nearly as difficult as gaining the trust of their father.

She rested her head on his shoulder and he took her hand in his. They stayed that way for a few minutes, watching more and more people walk into the tent they used as a place of assembly. A gathering was about to begin, now that Jeremiah was dead, Troy and Jake needed to discuss things with the ranchers and tell them about the peace they apparently made with the Natives.

“Let’s go,” Troy said finally.

She nodded and they walked over to join the others, hand in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally meant to be the last, but I still have some ideas, so I'll post at least one more chapter later.


End file.
